Bad news and good news for the future of Western society
I knew that the younger generation is considerably more open to homosexuality than their parents and grandparents.
But I never realized that they are also more pro-life.
The logic of the argument for gay "marriage" which author Ross Douhat suggests (without defending) will ultimately triumph in our society is flawed, to say the least. And I very much fear that the dynamic of our culture is pretty much what he describes it as being. How an institution such as marriage- which embodies in its very essence values essentially alien to the gay community, such as sexual monogamy- can be coherently expanded to include members of the same sex without fundamentally undermining the institution itself, that argument does not attempt to answer; indeed, it isn't particularly concerned about whether marriage survives. All it cares about is that- however illogically- it becomes legally possible to "marry" someone other than a member of the opposite sex.
Gay "marriage" is not like women's sufferage; it isn't the inclusion of a previously excluded class among those entitled to engage in a behavior or activity. Nor is it really an oxymoron, like military intelligence or seminary food.
It's more like breathing greenness. It's not just that it's a contradiction in terms; it's a concept which is, at its essence, utterly inane. It has, finally, no content. No matter what the Supreme Court may eventually rule, we will never see the day in this country when people of the same gender find themselves, in practice, sharing anything remotely resembling what the word "marriage" has meant throughout the history of civilization.
Whether heterosexuals continue to practice patterns of partnership increasingly similar to those the gay community has traditionally engaged in is another subject. But the net result of the trend toward the legalization of gay "marriage" and the abolition in practice of marriage among heterosexuals does not fill me with optimism for the future of our civilization.
I have to admit, though, that the word that our youngsters are less fond of the Roe v. Wade Kool Aide than their elders is good news for friends of Western civilization.
HT: Real Clear Politics
But I never realized that they are also more pro-life.
The logic of the argument for gay "marriage" which author Ross Douhat suggests (without defending) will ultimately triumph in our society is flawed, to say the least. And I very much fear that the dynamic of our culture is pretty much what he describes it as being. How an institution such as marriage- which embodies in its very essence values essentially alien to the gay community, such as sexual monogamy- can be coherently expanded to include members of the same sex without fundamentally undermining the institution itself, that argument does not attempt to answer; indeed, it isn't particularly concerned about whether marriage survives. All it cares about is that- however illogically- it becomes legally possible to "marry" someone other than a member of the opposite sex.
Gay "marriage" is not like women's sufferage; it isn't the inclusion of a previously excluded class among those entitled to engage in a behavior or activity. Nor is it really an oxymoron, like military intelligence or seminary food.
It's more like breathing greenness. It's not just that it's a contradiction in terms; it's a concept which is, at its essence, utterly inane. It has, finally, no content. No matter what the Supreme Court may eventually rule, we will never see the day in this country when people of the same gender find themselves, in practice, sharing anything remotely resembling what the word "marriage" has meant throughout the history of civilization.
Whether heterosexuals continue to practice patterns of partnership increasingly similar to those the gay community has traditionally engaged in is another subject. But the net result of the trend toward the legalization of gay "marriage" and the abolition in practice of marriage among heterosexuals does not fill me with optimism for the future of our civilization.
I have to admit, though, that the word that our youngsters are less fond of the Roe v. Wade Kool Aide than their elders is good news for friends of Western civilization.
HT: Real Clear Politics
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